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Picked this up on a car boot. My first impression was that it was styled after Thrower's Showstopper, knocked out in China or elsewhere, quite recently. But before I car boot it myself, I'd like to rule out the idea that it could be a test piece or a seconds.

I've taken some pictures next to a couple of Showstopper decanters for comparison. The vase doesn't have a pontil.

It's unlikely to be inspired by anything and could have been made anywhere. The ripply effect occurs when the sides are flattened on the marver and then not smoothed out. That's probably where FT got his inspiration from.

Thanks Patrick. I understand. My limited 'knowledge' tells me that the vase and the Thrower pieces were made in a very similar way: blown into a wet wooden box. The accuracy of the Thrower pieces, and the wonkiness of the unknown piece are down to the skill of the blower, if indeed symmetry was desired in the latter.

Thanks Christine. We have friends in Wigan. I know about Pilkington/Ravenhead, but didn't know about the visitor's centre. I will put it together with a trip to a flea market.

Hi Sue, Sorry to disagree with you here............ These are certainly blown into a mould and trying to do the same on a marver would take immense skill and a long time. I will ask Adam to look at this topic and give his views on this.